What is the relative importance of economics and politics in European integration?
In a world of power dynamics as it is now emerging, Europeans need a shared narrative, an ability to define a common dynamic. This must chart the trajectory and establish acceptable power relations. The economy is a necessary condition for this new reality, no longer a sufficient one.
Europe was built on economics because, in the aftermath of the war, political integration was too complex. Improving collective well-being was intended to pave the way for the political construction that was the initial objective. Economies have prospered, but the final stage remains to be built.
Having caught up, the globalized economy absorbed Europe. Europe then adopted a more normative discourse and role within the emerging globalization process. While the European economy was neither the most dynamic nor the most innovative, by advocating rules over force, preferring conditionality to coercion, and defining standards that facilitated global regulation, it made a significant contribution to global dynamics.
But the world has changed. The Draghi and Letta reports show that the prevailing collective dynamic is no longer working. The world is now defined by power dynamics rather than cooperation. Consequently, the normative dynamic that characterized Europe is no longer sufficient. A shared narrative is needed to give it new impetus. Draghi suggests a shift towards a new institutional framework: that of a federation.
Europe once held a position of arbiter, but this role has been weakened. The world has lost some of its multilateral dimension. The United States and China are engaged in bilateral processes, and Europe is participating by multiplying trade agreements.
Europe must now be an actor rather than an arbiter, a producer rather than a consumer of narratives. This is another condition for having a shared future. A future that, for example, will define the European vision on the conflict with Iran, one that could challenge the position of the United States, one that would provide Europe’s vision of the world.
The implementation of the Draghi and Letta reports is necessary, but it can only be effective if it is driven by a common will.
From now on, politics must define the objectives, set the limits of power dynamics, and chart the course. Economics has been effective for 70 years, and it must continue to be so, but in a world of power struggles, politics must create the trajectory. If it fails to do so, economics alone will not suffice, and the risk would then be the dissolution of Europe.